


Robbie's Gift

by cinnabongene



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Friendship, Hugs, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 02:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10151519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnabongene/pseuds/cinnabongene
Summary: After the Christmas party, Sportacus finds the socks that he gave Robbie discarded in the snow. He picks them up and goes to have a much needed heart-to-heart with LazyTown's villain.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after S1 E29. Robbie and Sportacus' interactions at the Christmas party were so cute and sweet that I couldn't stand to see Robbie throw it all away at the end. So I fixed it!

It was nearly 8 when the celebrations had concluded—time for Sportacus and the kids to get to bed. He had noticed that Robbie had disappeared sometime during all the dancing and singing, but had decided not to think too much of it. Perhaps all the noise had just been too much for the poor man. But he was at least glad that Robbie had taken his gift before he left.

Sportacus bid all of the guests of the Christmas party goodnight, and left the mayor’s house with armfuls of presents, including a pink baseball from Stephanie and a sports candy lollipop from Ziggy (which was really just an apple stuck on top of a carrot). When he stepped outside into the cold, he looked down and nearly dropped all of his presents. There on the ground in front of him was the little purple box he had so carefully wrapped for Robbie, and lying haphazardly in the snow next to it were the red socks he had knit. 

For a moment, Sportacus grew concerned that something bad may have happened to Robbie, but surely his crystal would have gone off. He shifted all of his gifts to one arm, bent over to pick up the discarded present, and placed the socks back into their box, before calling for his airship ladder.

Five minutes later, Sportacus’ boots connected with the soft blanket of snow that covered the ground in front of Robbie’s billboard. He didn’t care that it was past his bedtime; he had to make this right. He hopped up to the metal hatch and knocked before calling down. “Robbie? Are you alright?” 

For a few disconcerting seconds, all he could hear was the soft howling of the wind. Then finally, an exasperated, “Go away, Sportaflop.” 

“I just need to talk to you,” Sportacus called back down, unwilling to give up. 

After a few moments, the hatch opened, and Robbie stuck his glowering head out. “Just get inside before you freeze to death,” he muttered, then withdrew back into the chute, allowing Sportacus to follow. 

Sportacus surveyed the snowy mess that was Robbie’s lair. “Robbie… it’s freezing down here. Why is there… snow?” 

“It’s no concern of yours, Sportadweeb,” said Robbie, crossing his arms and he flopped back into his chair. “Now, what did you have to come and bother me for?” 

Sportacus took the purple box out from the inside pocket of his vest. Robbie’s expression dropped. “Oh,” he said softly. 

“Did… did you just drop this?” Sportacus asked, searching Robbie’s face for any sign that it could be true. He found none. “Or… did you mean to leave it there?” 

Robbie looked away and mumbled his response. “It’s just a stupid pair of socks. Why does it matter to you what I do with them?” 

Sportacus tried not to let his heartbreak seep into his voice. “I knit these for you.” 

Robbie’s response was even softer than before. “Oh.” 

“I even used purple wrapping paper because I thought you would like it. It really hurt my feelings that you would throw them away like that.” 

Robbie dug his fingers into the armrests, still refusing to look up. “I don’t know why you keep trying to be nice to me. I’m not a good person.”

“Robbie, that’s not true!” 

“The only reason I came to the stupid party in the first place was to steal all the presents. I only stopped because I wanted to be able to open mine.” 

“You could have opened your present and still stolen the others,” Sportacus pointed out. “But you didn’t.”

“I wanted to hit you with a giant snowball and destroy the party!” Robbie shouted.

“I know, Robbie. But what matters is that you didn’t actually do any of those things. You warned everyone. You saved the party.”

“From myself!”

“Sometimes that’s the bravest kind of saving anyone can do. It means you have to admit you were wrong.” 

Robbie grit his teeth. “Why are you down here anyway? To make sure I felt bad about throwing your gift away? Because mission accomplished. You can leave now.”

Sportacus took a step closer. “No, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You left so quickly, and throwing a present away seems like something someone would only do if they were upset.”

Robbie looked up and met Sportacus’ eyes for a brief second, loosening his grip on the chair. “It got so loud when you all started singing and dancing and flippity flopping all over the place. That many people shouldn’t be able to fit in one house. It’s too much.”

Sportacus said nothing as Robbie fidgeted with the fuzz on the arm of his chair, looking like he wanted to say more but not quite being able to get it out.

Robbie drew in a nervous breath. “And the gift… I don’t really know what I was expecting. I was so shocked you’d even remembered me. I was hoping it’d be something that showed you actually cared. When I saw socks, I assumed it was a throw away gift just to keep me out of your hair. I barely even looked at them. But I guess I was wrong. And… I’m sorry.” 

When Robbie looked up into his eyes, Sportacus could see the earnestness there and was consumed by the urge to hug the man in front of him. But, knowing the contact would be unwelcome, he restrained himself. Instead he held out the box to Robbie. “They’re yours, if you still want them. I even used a shoe that you left behind from one of your disguises to make sure I got the size right.” 

Robbie leaned forward and hovered his hand over the purple box, looking up at Sportacus with disbelief. “You still want me to have them? Even after all that?” 

Sportacus nodded. “They should be with their rightful owner. Besides, I don’t know anyone else with feet as big as you.” 

Robbie took the box into his lap and opened it with care this time, noticing how carefully wrapped it was and how elegantly Sportacus had written his name on the tag. He took out the socks and ran his fingers over them. From his limited experience knitting, he knew how difficult the details of the reindeer pattern must have been—and Sportacus didn’t even have faerie magic to help him. “You really made these?” 

“I made gifts for all of my friends. And I have you to thank for that. You were the one who told me to take up knitting in the first place,” Sportacus grinned, remembering the day he’d actually believed Robbie thought of him as a friend too. 

“I, uh, I don’t have anything to give to you,” said Robbie, looking around his lair sheepishly. 

“You don’t have to give me anything, Robbie. I’m just happy you came to the dinner. That was enough of a gift for me.” Sportacus looked down at Robbie, who was staring back at him like he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why the elf would want anything to do with him. Sportacus sighed to himself. He’d done enough to try to build up Robbie’s self-esteem for the night. Anything more might push it. “Well, I should probably let you get to sleep then.”

Robbie put the socks on the table and pushed himself up out of his chair. “Sportacus, wait!” Sportacus turned back to Robbie, one eyebrow quirked expectantly. Robbie stepped closer and held his arms out, giving Sportacus a chance to back away, before wrapping the elf up in a loose hug. Once Sportacus recovered from the shock, he hugged back, resting his chin on Robbie’s shoulder and tightening the embrace. After a few moments, Robbie pulled away and stared at the ground as a blush painted his cheeks. “There’s your present, Sportaflop.” 

“Thank you, Robbie.” Sportacus beamed and reached out to squeeze Robbie’s hand in gratitude. “I think it’s the best one I’ve gotten all night.”


End file.
